Chuck Schumer Says 'Crazy' Fair Tax Act Won't Pass As Long He's Majority Leader

Sen. Chuck Schumer, Majority Leader (D-NY) has termed the Fair Tax Act, which seeks to abolish the Internal Revenue Service, as the “craziest yet” and has asserted he would not allow it to pass as long as he is the Majority Leader.

"This so-called 'Fair Tax' plan is the craziest yet. It’s a real doozy. It's hard to believe they came up with it. It would completely abolish the IRS ... and just impose a 30% tax on everything," Schumer said in a video that he tweeted.

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“Americans are worried about inflation and the Republican Party ... many of them are saying we want to increase what you pay by another 30%. This plan is dangerous. It's a disaster. It would impact just about every single American family for the worse,” Schumer said.

Why It Matters: The Fair Tax Act seeks to eliminate all personal and corporate income taxes, the death tax, gift taxes, and the payroll tax while also eliminating the need for the IRS. First introduced to Congress in 1999 by former Georgia Congressman John Linder, the Fair Tax would repeal the current tax code and replace it with a single national consumption tax.

Schumer also worried about how senior citizens would cope with their reduced spending power if the Act was passed.

“Seniors who have saved and saved and saved for their retirements — we don't know if there would be any more Social Security, but those who even have Social Security, it would mean they have 30% less buying power right away,” he said.

“As long as I am majority leader, this devastating, unfair, nasty and almost crazy plan is not going to pass. Not going to happen in the Senate. Absolutely!”

Jefferies’ Take: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) also voiced his concerns about the Act, saying it would undermine the working and middle class.

“We are going to work to fight to defeat it, expose it and make it clear that it's part of an overall extreme agenda to undermine working families and the middle class in America in order to elevate the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected as part of some scheme desire to subsidize further the lifestyles of the rich and shameless,” he said in the video tweeted by Schumer.

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